‘Think Aloud’: Toward a Framework To Facilitate Reflective Practice Amongst Rugby League Coaches

Abstract

This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a protocol encompassing Think Aloud (TA) as a technique to facilitate reflection-in-action and delayed reflection-on-action to aid coach learning. Six British, male rugby league coaches, who reported little previous exposure to reflective practice, consented to participate. Participants were: (a) instructed on how to engage in TA; (b) observed in practice using TA; (c) provided with individual support on delayed reflective practice on their first coaching session and use of TA; (d) observed in practice using TA a second time; and (e) engaged in a social validation interview regarding their experiences of TA. Analysis of in-action verbalizations revealed a shift from descriptive verbalizations to a deeper level of reflection. Both immediate and post eight week social validation interviews revealed that coaches developed an increased awareness, enhanced communication, and pedagogical development. The participants also recommended that TA can be a valuable tool for: (a) collecting in-event data during a coaching session; and (b) developing and evidencing reflection for coaches. Future recommendations were also provided by the participants and consequently, this study offers a unique technique to reflective practice that has the potential to meet the learning development needs of coaches.

Investigating the relationship between cognitions, pacing strategies and performance in 16.1 km cycling time trials using a think aloud protocol

“…However, it is also important to investigate perceptions of new and innovative methodological procedures, which in turn will inform the employment, or otherwise, of such methodologies in future research. Furthermore, social validation procedures have been suggested to strengthen the external validity of technical and practical action research by offering a personal insight into the intervention through the experiences of the participants (Newton & Burgess, 2008;Whitehead et al, 2016a).…”

Discussão E Aplicação Do Protocolo Think Aloud Em Pesquisas Sobre Processo Decisório

“…(Yang, 2003). Destaca-se a atual utilização do protocolo verbal no estudo de processos cognitivos complexos, tais como a resolução de problemas e a tomada de decisões em diversas áreas (Neves, 2004), incluindo investigações, com objetivo de contribuir na validação de escalas de satisfação de consumidores com serviços de saúde (Thermaenius et al, 2019), visando identificar as heurísticas utilizadas para a tomada de decisão na adoção de crianças (Zeijlmans et al, 2019), buscando analisar o processo de julgamento na ginástica artística feminina (Lee et al, 2019) e a fim de compreender a autoconsciência e a reflexão em ação na prática de coaching (Whitehead et al, 2016), por exemplo.…”

The Missing Science: Ethics in Practice

“…Furthermore, a relective practitioner will often, either consciously or subconsciously, engage in a relective behavior. Purposeful, conscious relective practice may involve R-cards [13], journaling [2], think-aloud [14], relective conversation, [2] or a personal leadership narrative [10]. In utilizing one of these activities, the coach is aware of the relective task, and the efort is deliberate to improve his or her understanding of interactions with their followers.…”

“…In utilizing one of these activities, the coach is aware of the relective task, and the efort is deliberate to improve his or her understanding of interactions with their followers. In coaching, by relecting on our actions when we engaged with others, we increase self-awareness and have a beter understanding of how our actions impact others [14], and through the use of relective practice, techniques over time may develop speciic relective habits.…”